Canadian Milwaukee Brewers talk WBC, hockey

Pitchers John Axford and Jim Henderson high-five as Brewers teammates and teamates for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. (Photo by Justin Marshall)

The Brewers spring training facility is located in Maryvale, Ariz., but John Axford and Jim Henderson stay eight miles away in Glendale.

The reason: The native Canadian pitchers want to be close to Jobing.com Arena, the Phoenix Coyotes home, so they catch hockey games.

“I’ve been to two so far,” Henderson said. “I’m staying at the hotel right there so I can just walk across the street and check out as many games as I can. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Flames or not, I like going over and watching NHL hockey.”

Hockey is king in Canada. Even though Henderson, Axford and infielder Taylor Green choose to focus on baseball, they are still hockey fans at heart. Those three players, along with pitcher Nick Bucci, will represent Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

Henderson said he never played organized hockey growing up because it was too expensive. His parents were big baseball fans so he always played baseball.

Like any Canadian boy, he did play pond hockey and always dreamed of wearing the red and yellow of the Calgary Flames.

On March 5, Henderson will not be wearing the red of Calgary or the Brewers blue but Team Canada red inside Maryvale Baseball Park.

That’s when Team Canada plays an exhibition game against the Brewers.

Axford is looking forward to the game.

“I’m actually pitching against the Brewers,” Axford said. “It will be interesting. I’ll get to warm up in the other bullpen. But it will be fun.”

Axford doesn’t expect added intensity when he pitches against his teammates.

But Henderson said clubhouse bragging rights might be on the line but only if a teammate hits a homer against him.

“It’s either going to be a bragging right for them or us,” Henderson said. “I don’t really consider somebody getting a base hit a bragging right. If someone gets a home run, they can hold that above me. If I strike them out we can do that.”

Team Canada is always an underdog in the WBC. The Brewers players understand that. Even though they might be underdogs on paper, the Brewers who wear the leaf have high expectations.

Axford and Henderson said the goal is to get to the second round and show Canada is a team to be reckoned with.

Green has bigger expectations.

“You always want to win and represent your country well,” Green said. “So you’d like to win and go as far as you can go.”

For a while, Green wasn’t sure hockey was going anywhere because of the lockout.

But he was relieved when the NHL got back into business. Now he can see his favorite team, the Vancouver Canucks, compete for that elusive Stanley Cup.

Even after losing to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 finals, Green still has faith in his team.

“They’re good and they’re going to pull it off here soon,” Green said. “They’re going to win the Cup here in the next couple years. I’ll put some money on it. I’ve been betting on them for years, so I hope they do it.”

Axford said growing up he did root for the Toronto Maple Leafs but his favorite player will always be long-time Los Angeles Kings defenseman Rob Blake. Axford played defense like his idol.

“I always wanted to be like Rob Blake,” Axford said. “I wanted to be the next Rob Blake. I just like the way that he played the game. Plus, he was a local guy, he grew up just a town over from me. I was always number four just like him.”

Axford said four was always his hockey number. His baseball number was always different. When he came Milwaukee he didn’t pick Blake’s number.

Six college journalists from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication provide a multimedia glimpse at Brewers spring training outside the baselines.Read the bios of this year's student bloggers

Pictured from left to right: Jason Galvin, Carrie Adams, Edmund Hubbard, Alexia Porto, John De Groote and Justin Marshall.

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Brewers Key Dates

Feb. 12 - Pitchers and catchers with 0-3 years of major-league service time report to spring training

Feb. 15 - All players with 3+ years of major-league service time report to spring training